- In the first case, the 35-year-old was accused of procuring drugs from two Nigerian nationals and an Indian, who were arrested on November 2, 2018 for allegedly possessing 1.5 kg of cocaine and 940 grams of ecstasy
The Karnataka High Court has cited technical grounds to quash two drugs cases registered against a Bengaluru socialite and party organiser but allowed the City Police’s crime branch to correct the “procedural lapse” and prosecute him afresh.
A single bench of Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar quashed the investigations against Virendra Khanna, who was among several high-profile persons booked in 2020 for allegedly supplying and using drugs on the party circuit in Bengaluru. In the first case, the 35-year-old was accused of procuring drugs from two Nigerian nationals and an Indian, who were arrested on November 2, 2018 for allegedly possessing 1.5 kg of cocaine and 940 grams of ecstasy.
Khanna was arrested on September 4, 2020 in the case on the basis of a statement by B K Ravishankar, a close associate of a top Kannada actress, after his detention on September 2, 2020. He was booked, again on the basis of a statement by Ravishankar, in a case registered in September 2020 for allegedly supplying drugs at his parties.
The high court ruled that the police violated procedures by booking Khanna in the 2018 drug seizure case and said they should have registered a separate first information report in 2020 with regard to the alleged procurement and supply of drugs. The court stated that the socialite could not be booked in the September 2020 case since it was related to crimes allegedly committed between April 11, 2020 and September 4, 2020, whereas Khanna was accused of supplying drugs to parties between 2015 and 2019.
“The chargesheet also shows that the last date of involvement of the petitioner (Khanna) was on 08.03.2020 in a party called Divine Ex-Ma Holli, arranged at Ashoka Hotel. The chargesheet does not disclose his involvement in any offence committed after 08.03.2020, and therefore it is not understandable as to how the petitioner could have been arraigned (in an FIR registered in September 2020),” the judge said.
The court, however, allowed room for the police to correct their lapses and go ahead if Khanna’s involvement in the offences punishable under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act could be proved beyond reasonable doubt.
“It is to be noted here that what is made out by the counsel for the petitioner is a sheer procedural lapse. This can be set right… The lapses in procedural aspects should not come in the way of prosecuting the petitioner,” the judge said. “Therefore, permission is to be accorded to the prosecuting agency to set right all the procedural mistakes and take action against the petitioner in accordance with law,” he added.
